Greetings Dramatards

Today I wanna talk about drama involving Rhinos in South Africa. They are a critically endangered species, and South Africa has been doing a really REALLY shit job at protecting them. The main culprit of their decline has been the near total absent Border Control by the SADF border patrols, thus allowing many poachers to enter and retreat across South Africa boundaries, and even within SOuth Africa with impunity. The main line of defense have been National Park wardens and special mercenaries whom explicit job it is ward off poachers from places like the North Kruger National Park. In the Union of South Africa days, the military and police were exceptionally vigilant, now in modern corrupt faltering RSA, only a few groups of underpaid overworked game wardens stand between total extinction of all of Southern Africa's last remaining Rhino species.

The main culprits of enablement also tends to be the neighbouring dysfunctional governments of Mozambique and Zimbabwe, whom does even less than South Africa because they are in an even worse off political and economic situation than RSA, and quite frankly protecting endangered species isn't high on their priorities. Additionally the economic lack of opportunity also means that desperate poor africans are easily bribed by chinese and foreign mercenary groups whom specialize in poaching to do the dirty work for them. Thus poachers can have free reign to drive across the 4 separate nations which borders the Kruger National Park for example, and our poor understaffed game wardens have to play wack a mole, in an area consisting of 19 485 km². It's a slow losing battle and has been since 2008.

RHINO NEAR EXTINCTION STATISTICS:

https://rhinos.org/our-work/where-we-work/south-africa/

https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/poaching-stats/

During the crisis of 2013 to 2017 at least a thousand rhinos were poached from RSA territory yearly.

The preservation efforts with the help of new technology like drone areal observation and nigh vision have allowed Kruger National Park rangers a better capacity to stop poachers, but now south african gangs have started targeting smaller less prominent Reserve Parks like the famous Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park.

https://www.savetherhino.org/poaching-crisis/protecting-hips-rhinos/

"In the late 19th century, following decades of intense hunting, Southern white rhinos were thought to be extinct, until fewer than 100 were discovered in HiP. Against the odds, dedicated people protected the remaining rhinos. Thankfully the population grew, and in time rhinos could be moved elsewhere, expanding the subspecies into other reserves in South Africa and beyond. Today, it’s thought that all Southern white rhinos originated from that one tiny HiP population.More than a century later, the Park’s rhinos are once again facing an immense threat. The reduced rhino population within Kruger National Park has pushed poachers into new areas, and the north of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Province, where HiP sits, has been severely targeted by poaching gangs this year. Between January and September, reports suggest that 190 rhinos have been poached within KZN. During the first nine months of 2022, one rhino was killed every 35 hours in the Province." (from the article)

CURRENT APPROXIMATE RHINO POPULATIONS:

https://www.savetherhino.org/rhino-info/population-figures/

https://www.helpingrhinos.org/protecting-rhinos/

SOME FAN FACTS:

1. The total population of rhino left on earth is fewer than 30,000. Three of the five rhino species in the world are listed as critically endangered or facing extinction.

2. South Africa is home to 72% of the global population of rhino. but still two rhinos are still being lost every day at the hands of poachers.

3. There are actually two species of Rhino in Africa - the Black Rhino (left) and White Rhino (right). The origin of the names for the Black and White rhino is also hilariously r-slurred. The first europeans whom encountered the 2 separate species - as in were aware there were 2 separate species - as they moved inland into the african continent, were the dutch/proto-afrikaners. Other than size, another noteworthy difference in appearance is their upper lip. The white rhino's name, in fact, has nothing to do with its colour. The name is derived from the dutch/Afrikaans word “weit”, which means wide, and refers to the animal's muzzle. Black rhinos, on the other hand, have more of a hooked lip. Early English settlers misinterpreted the “wyd” for “white”. It is also sometimes called the square-lipped rhinoceros.

https://blog.viatu.com/en/blog/explained-black-rhino-vs-white-rhino

So where's the drama kaamrev?!

https://saiia.org.za/research/south-africa-s-rhino-paradox/

DEBATES ABOUT PRESERVING RHINOS THROUGH DE-HORNING:

So basically since 2 decades ago as far back as 2000, afrikaans farmers and wild game reserve lodge masters have been begging the RSA government to allow they to legally be able to breed Rhinos, so that they might have stable population regrowth in the safety of smaller and better protected private wild game camps. Rhino's also breed incredibly slowly with an astronomically long gestation pregnancy period of 15 fricking months! https://rhinos.org/blog/how-long-are-rhino-pregnancies/ Thus even in the wild in optimal conditions, Rhinos are particularly bad at recuperating their lost populations. Modern farming techniques would have allowed them to artificially inseminate Rhino mothers to jump start the regrowth of populations and overcome the often scenario where Rhino just don't breed.

For as far back as 2000 this idea was controversial. Many naturalists and other hippy types abhorred the idea of enclosing these natural beasts in artificial zoo like camps, even if the wild game reserves were very large. Wild Game hunting lodges also had an overlap between the people whom could or would be able to afford the upkeep of these specialized Rhino reserves, and liberal people didn't trust hunters to preserve them.

But what was especially a nuclear bomb of dramatic sneed between these factions was the suggestion to legally farm Rhino horns, in order to curb the black market. The idea was to saw off the Rhino horns while they were sedated and asleep, in order to harvest the Rhino horn and undercut the black market. Sawing off the horns of rhinos had been done before (although without the intention of harvesting the horns, and only ensuring they hopefully would not be a target for the poachers whom were exclusively interested in Rhino horn, same as many chinese fishermen whom cut off the back fins of sharks and throw the rest of the fish overboard to drown, as only the fins are a prized delicacy). This was considered an absolutely desperation measure in the face of extinction, and only for those Rhino herds whom were in most peril, and under the constant threat of poachers, where wardens could simply not avail themselves to the rescue in time.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/31/how-chopping-off-their-horns-helps-save-rhinos-from-poachers

Needless to say, even this de-horning campaign was controversial and not applied everywhere since even the de-horning procedure is expensive and time consuming. The drug cocktails and expertise to immobilise the rhino is a ballooning cost that can't always be done indefinitely. But just for you dramatard's safety of mind, the cutting of Rhino horns is not painful to the Rhinos.Rhino horn is made of keratin, the same substance as you find in human hair and fingernails. Rhinos are born without horns, but within just a couple of months, a tiny stub appears – and their horns continue to grow for the rest of their lives. If a rhino’s horn is removed without cutting into the skull, it can grow back to almost its full size after three years. However, if the rhino skull is cut into, it could stop the re-growth of the horn.

https://lifejourney4two.com/rhino-dehorning/

SA GOVERMENT CHANGES LEGISLATION REGARDING FARMING RHINOS:

https://www.helpingrhinos.org/news/394/south-africa-reclassify-wildlife-as-farm-animals/

Now it's important to not that Rhino horns have been harvested from even way back as 1950s, that's how we know the horns could be removed without harm to the animal. But since 1977 an international ban on the trade of Rhino horns had been implemented by the United Nations. And in 2009, the South African government put in a moratorium on trade in rhinoceros horns.

Of course, as the Rhino-poaching epidemic reached critical levels of at least a thousand Rhinos per year, and the Kruger National Park populations having fallen by have by the end of the decade since 2009, people were starting to turn around to other solutions in total desperation. The RSA gov was too corrupt and slow to adapt to this poaching crisis, and the National Parks of RSA simply did not have the funds to hire suffcient game Wardens to defend against this unparalleled onslaught against the South African Rhino populations.

Later the moratoruim against both Rhino farming AND de-horning would be overturned by 2017, when the South Africa’s Constitutional Court pulled back the moratoruim bans. The typical sneedfest began between hunters, liberals, naturalists, hippies and lodge owners about whether this was ethical, morally right, the correct path towards preservation, bla bla bla

The two main camps of the argument was whether legalized Rhino horn auctions would undercut the black market, and thus oppose the poacher's will to continue poaching rhinos in Southern Africa. Opponents of the trade say demand for horns could increase as a result of legalisation, reviving dormant interest. This growth could outpace commercial supply, and even fuel more illegal poaching of wild animals. Critics also worry that ending the ban will remove any lingering stigma associated with possessing rhino horn, further boosting demand.

Further arguments against legal rhino horn trade was that chinks tend to see Wild animals as superior to that of those in captivity, and that legal horns on the market may not defend against poaching frequency.

"Historically, poaching has also been immune to fluctuations in the retail price of rhino horns. For the price mechanism to eradicate poaching, demand would need to bottom out. With demand actually increasing, and without a threshold price to encourage breeding, supply-side interventions are unlikely to be effective in protecting wild rhinos. Currently, rhino horn sells for as much as $60,000 per kilogram in parts of Asia."

Additionally the idea of undercutting Rhino horns on the black market is also a gamble as breeding and upkeeping Rhinos require astronomical expenses, which only the turbo rich wild game farmers and lodge masters are able to afford, and liberals vs hunters have argued about whether or not the actual legal horns put on auction will actually be cheaper than their black market counterparts. There's a lot of debate (slapfights) the past decade about how the legal price of horns vs their black markets are calculated, and both camps have been full of shit, so i personally have no idea who's opinion stand the most accurately.

RHINO HORNS CONFISCATED STOCKPILES:

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-wildlife-rhinos-safrica/south-africas-top-court-lifts-ban-on-domestic-sales-in-rhino-horn-idUSKBN1771VP

Other DRAMATIC slapfights between camps involved flooding the market with confiscated horns. Even though many poachers fall through the cracks, National Park wardens and SADF members have in fact accumulated a metric shit load of confiscated rhino horns from poachers caught and jailed the past 15 years. Many hunters and naturalists have stated that the government should flood the market with these horns in order to devalue the illicit black market, and also hopefully prevent the poaching of rhinos to be lucrative anymore. Liberals disagree and slapfights ensue. Once again no one knows what the outcome will be.

https://www.helpingrhinos.org/news/394/south-africa-reclassify-wildlife-as-farm-animals/

A further dramatic event in our story was when the RSA government reclassified the legal status of WIld animals. "The South African government recently approved an amendment to its Animal Improvement Act (AIA). The AIA is responsible for governing livestock breeding in South Africa and the amendment re-categorized several endangered and iconic animals as farming stock. In other words, wild animals such as lion, cheetah, giraffe, rhino and zebra are among the 33 wild species now listed as ‘farm animals’. " (from article)

Another nuclear bomb was unleashed because the parliament had pushed this Act amendment without consulting the public in 2019. Hippies went full because among the things that the reclassifcation meant, was that wild game farmers could now artificially inseminate wild game like Rhinos. This was already something way against the perceived natural order of nature, and opponents believed this could open the animals to having be genetically manipulated by the Wild Game farmers, similar as to how buck Colour Variants had been a fad a decade earlier. They stated that the Rhinos would be at risk of genetic polution.

GOOD ARTICLE DEMONSTARTING THE R-SLURRED POLITICS OF SA:

I am now going plagiarize the shit out of the following article because it's fantastic, and because I know only like 1/100 of you dramatards will actually read it. Here are the important bits. I still recommend reading it, it's pretty good journ*lism for once. (=== quotes from the article ===)

https://undark.org/2021/12/08/is-trouble-ahead-for-south-africas-private-rhino-breeders/

Yet through all of these controversial debates and legislation about Rhino breeding, some rich farmers have been intensively farming Rhinos succesfully and increasing their populations on their farm. The farm of John Hume has 2000 White Rhinos in 20 000 hectares. Hume has not lost a rhino to poachers in almost five years, thanks to formidable security.

====="But the fate of Hume’s rhinos — and South Africa’s unusual game privatization experiment — hang in the balance. In December 2020, a government panel recommended phasing out intensive and captive rhino breeding in the country, as part of a broader set of policies for wildlife conservation. According to the panel and a subsequent government policy paper, captive breeding operations like the one owned by Hume are potentially harming the species’ future.===== (from article)

RACISM DRAMA!

====But the prospect of losing their herds has alarmed many private rhino owners and conservationists, who say the policy will make southern white rhinos more vulnerable to poaching. “We have rhino in well-protected zones,” said Pelham Jones, chairman of the Private Rhino Owners Association, or PROA. Now, he added, “the government is recommending that these captive breeding operations, which have proven to be highly, highly successful, and are achieving the best breeding outcome one could hope for, are to be shut down.” The group is considering all options, including a legal challenge that would potentially ensnare the process in years of legal wrangling.

At stake here are questions about how best to preserve a threatened species. The politics are fraught as well, and charged by South Africa’s racial tensions: Proponents of the new policy point out that the country’s Black majority has often been excluded from the benefits of rebounding game populations. By PROA’s own estimates, there are between 150 and 180 private rhino owners in South Africa; nearly all of them are White. (from article)=====

With the decline on South Africa's prime National Parks like Kruger park, poachers have now targeted private ranches.

====Today, as state losses mount, poachers are increasingly targeting private reserves. Government data shows 15 percent of rhinos poached in 2019 were on private land. In the first six months of 2021, that spiked to 30 percent. Owners who can afford it invest heavily in security. Meanwhile, many small-scale rhino ranchers have sold out because of costs. At least so far, the scale of Hume’s operation — and his deep pockets — have fended off poachers. At Hume’s “Ops Center,” 10 TV screens line one wall. Radars and thermal cameras monitor the property, covering the rhinos’ range and the public roads that cut past the ranch. The flat, grassy terrain is ideal for the motion-detecting radars, which cannot penetrate solid objects such trees or buildings. If an intruder gets over the electrified fence, concealed speakers blare warnings while a team rushes to intercept.

“We are always ready, and we can fly a chopper to the scene quickly if we need to,” said Brandon Jones, a helicopter pilot and Hume’s head of security, with a handgun holstered to his hip. The team’s arsenal includes assault rifles; the poachers are also heavily armed. Hume, who refers to the team as his “private army,” said security costs him $2 million per year. The investment seems to be working. While poachers killed 32 of Hume’s rhinos between 2007 and 2017, he says he has not lost an animal since. More of his rhinos have been killed by lighting strikes. ====(from article)

But opponents to private intensive breeding state the following:

"NSIDE THIS GATED FORTRESS, the number of rhinos on Hume’s ranch has swelled: Between 2008, when he started breeding at his current ranch, and September 2021, Hume’s rhinos had given birth to some 1,690 calves. But whether that growth is an unmitigated good for rhino conservation, or a liability for the future of the species, remains contested. Yako and other critics of captive breeding have raised concerns that the closely managed life on the ranch could give rise to domestication, a fate that historically has not occurred in any large African mammal, or render the rhino unsuitable for rewilding.=====

Opponents to private game farming are also concerned about genetic diversity:

====Yako and others have also expressed concerns about the genetic diversity of rhinos in captive breeding populations. Even in the wild, rhino genetics pose serious issues: A century ago, when population numbers were so low, the bottleneck reduced the genetic variability of the species. According to Petra Kretzschmar, a biologist and rhino expert at the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Germany, this state of affairs made the species vulnerable to disease and fertility problems. Compounding the issue, rhinos tend to mate with their relatives. “Inbreeding is unfortunately a big threat to the white rhino population,” Kretzschmar wrote in an email. “It is therefore very important to prevent rhinos from inbreeding.”===

But a lot of the anti private game farms arguments are racially and class motivated:

=== AT ISSUE ARE larger questions about the future of wildlife in South Africa, where populations of large, charismatic animals have rebounded. Many are in private hands: Today, according to the government report, there are 9,000 private game ranches in South Africa, comprising around 50 million acres. The growth of private game reserves has raised some concerns about equity. South Africa is the most unequal society in the world, according to the World Bank, and land ownership patterns remain skewed in favor of the White minority.

According to the government policy paper, many communities with historical ties to wildlife lands have been walled out of the present conservation arrangement. “The forceful removal of people from the land led to the current South African ‘Wildlife Model,’ the report says, “where the largest percentage of wildlife land is owned by the White minority and by the state, with few wildlife resources on community lands.” Critics note that these conservation disputes are unfolding amid persistent government failures to enact land reforms. “The disparities in ownership in the wildlife industry somewhat reflects what we see in other sub-sectors of agriculture, where participation of Black farmers remains marginal,” said Wandile Sihlobo, the chief economist at the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa and author of a recent book on land reform in the country.=====

What's not mentioned here is that the poor black populations of South Africa tend to eliminate the wild game they come into contact with due to hunger and financial interest. Much of this is due to poverty, but also because much of the South African black population doesn't view conservation of wild life as important. Mentioning this wall start your immediate cancelling in RSA society. In their defense a lot of liberal black peeps feel that after many dutch settlers in the 1800s had shot out much of RSA wildlife, now they want to keep black peeps out of their fair share of hunting. The conversation that preservation is the goal tends to turn sour and race based pretty quick when these complicated matters are ever introduced

Anyways that's all I got, GOOD DAY!